Swap Books, Cds, And Dvds Online Instead Of Buying

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Any hobby can be expensive, even simple ones like reading.

Karen Robinson, a Purdue Graduate Student, loves books so much that she is finishing up her Ph.D. in Literature. Robinson reads 2 to 4 books every week. Over time, Robinson said buying books not only empties the pocketbook but also fills up the shelf, which can be a problem.

"A lot of it is the space," she said. "I definitely can't store thousand of books as much as I would like to."

A few years ago Robinson found paperbackswap.com , an online site that allows people to trade their books for free.

"It was a way of being able to take some of the books that I had already read and was finished with and finding new homes for them. So, that way I could get new books in return, especially since I use them so quickly," said Robinson.

Here's how the site works: each book you swap earns you a credit which you can use to pick out a new book from another user. The only cost is the shipping, which Robinson said averages about $2.40 each book.

"It has a box for the ISBN number so all you have to do is type that in from the back of the book," she said.

Robinson has swapped more than 1,000 books through the site and said she has had great success. Paperbackswap.com estimates Robinson has saved nearly $4,000 from swapping.

The company offers two additional sites for swapping CDs and DVDs.

They are:

http://www.swapacd.com

http://www.swapadvd.com

So, if you're are a bookworm or just love music and movies, these sites could be more ways you can save!